Saturday, 20 August 2016

Publisher's synopsisWhen sheltered American
good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem
De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in
England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that
spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the
following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to
discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a
journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and
through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to
break free of those confines.

Sooz Book Reviews Gold Seal of Approval

My Review:This book was recommended as a good summer read by one of the contributors on the NY Times Book Review Podcast. It is not a book I would have chosen to read myself, but the recommendation made me curious.

The first line of the book goes like this: 'To be or not to be, that is the question. That 's from Hamlet's - maybe Shakespeare's, most famous soliloquy.' The protagonist, Allyson Healey, tells us how she knows this and why it matters to her. And, having read that first paragraph, I just knew I was going to enjoy the book.

Just One Day is what I would call a relationship novel. What I mean by that is that, although not everyone will like it, those who will love it are likely to do so because they can relate to it. Novels that readers can relate to tend to be profoundly affecting, sometimes triggering old memories, both joyful and melancholic alike. They are also thought-provoking, possibly leading us to reflect on the human condition and life in general.

Warning - from this point on there are potential spoilers

The first part of the book reminded me of that movie Before Sunrise, in that, following an encounter with a complete stranger - Willem - on a train to London one morning, Allyson finds herself accepting an invitation to spend a day in Paris with him. Going on that journey with them was a joyful reading experience. They don't visit any of the obvious places, instead Willem shows Allyson a Paris that only the inhabitants are likely to experience. Coming back to the relationship point, there is an added bonus for readers who know and love the city of Paris, as you are able to visualize the various places referenced in you mind's eye (possibly with nostalgia - *smile*).

The second part of the book - when Allyson starts college in Boston - reminded me of New Moon (the 2nd Twilight book). Not so much the story but the tone; that sense of loss that, like Bella, Allyson experiences as she struggles to come to terms with her separation from Willem and her inability to overcome her desire to be with him. She is also haunted by the uncertainty surrounding their separation - which was painful and confusing. Did he abandon her? Or did she abandon him? She is plagued with negative thoughts - reinforced by those close to her that are in the know - and is mostly convinced that she 'got played' by a talented trickster. And yet, she does not know this for certain and deigns to hope that perhaps she is wrong about that. There will be readers who have been there and will relate.

So far, this sounds like a straight forward boy-meets-girl kind of story, which to some extent it is, but it is also much more. Allyson has lived a sheltered life and has been controlled by her parents, particularly her mother, all her life. Despite her age, in their eyes, she is still a child and is treated as such. She is a passive character who does what she is told and the idea of defying them is unthinkable to her. This is often at her own expense, as she forfeits her own wishes to satisfy theirs. That is, until she takes the adventurous decision to throw caution to the wind and spend a day in a foreign city with a complete stranger. Would she have done so if she hadn't been motivated by an invitation from a handsome man that she was attracted to? Probably not, but in her search for romance she discovers something else entirely. On that day in Paris, she took on the persona of an alter ego, 'Lulu', and discovered that 'Allyson' is not her whole self; that there is more to her. That brave step sets off a chain reaction within her and she is forever changed. We the readers then get to see her blossom and grow into herself, becoming the person she wants to be. In doing so, she gains new positive experiences and makes [loyal] friends in unlikely places. They support and encourage her to face her demons; and to go in search of Willem in the hope of discovering the truth - whatever the truth may be.

In short, this book is less about falling in love with a handsome stranger and more about self-discovery.

I loved the writing style of this book. It is the kind I aspire to myself - one can hope.

Thanks to the NY Times Book Podcast, I think I have discovered an all-time favourite.

Friday, 5 August 2016

Publication synopsisNathan Byrn is running again. The Alliance of Free Witches has
been all but destroyed. Scattered and demoralized, constantly pursued by
the Council's Hunters, only a bold new strategy can save the rebels
from total defeat. They need the missing half of Gabriel's amulet - an
ancient artifact with the power to render its bearer invincible in
battle.

But the amulet's guardian - the reclusive
and awesomely powerful witch Ledger - has her own agenda. To win her
trust, Nathan must travel to America and persuade her to give him the
amulet. Combined with his own Gifts, the amulet might just be enough to
turn the tide for the Alliance and end the bloody civil war between
Black and White witches once and for all...

Sooz Book Reviews Gold Seal of Approval

My ReviewThis is the final instalment of the Half Bad series by Sally Green. The previous two books, Half Bad and Half Wild have also been reviewed on this blog.

In my review of Half Lost, I had observed that the book lacked the hard-hitting dystopian feel of the first one. Well, not the case with Half Lost, which returns to the original style. It pulls no punches, so be prepared for a heart-wrenching read that will more than likely reduce you to tears and have you thinking about it for days, if not weeks, after you have finished it. Or at least, that was my experience. Every now and then, I still think of Nathan and have to remind myself that he is not real - just a fictional character who exists in Sally Green's imagination.

I will not delve into the plot for this review because I don't think I can do so without ruining it for would-be readers - and that would be a shame.All I can say is that I loved this book so much, it is what I consider to be the best that it's genre has to offer. As such, I cannot recommend it highly enough for lovers of true Dystopia.